At Harmon, Smith, & Vourvoulias, L.L.C., we take pride in local efforts to preserve, sustain, and promote the natural ecosystems that surround us.
Only twenty minutes from our Poydras Street office, you can find an organization doing all it can to help preserve some of the world’s most endangered species for generations to come.
The Audubon Nature Institute has many programs in place to promote conservation and save species on the brink of extinction. To support these efforts, we encourage you to take a trip to the Audubon Nature Institute and see some of the rarest creatures in the world.
Here are some of the Audubon’s endangered species programs:
African black-footed cat
The two adorable kittens, born in 2012, are members of an endangered species rarely seen in captivity. They are the first of their kind to be born from a frozen embryo via in vitro fertilization. This is a groundbreaking achievement by the Audubon Nature Institute in helping save endangered species.
Mississippi gopher frog
There is only one remaining population of the Mississippi gopher frog, made up of only about 100 adult hoppers. The Audubon Zoo has two groups of tadpoles from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, one of only four zoos caring for this critically endangered amphibian.
Louisiana pine snake
The Louisiana pine snake is the most endangered vertebrate in North America, due to the decline in pocket gopher numbers (its favorite meal) and the loss of longleaf pine forests. There were 14 pine snakes hatched in captivity in 2011, nine at the Audubon Zoo!
Amur leopard
A critically endangered subspecies, there are less than 50 Amur leopards in the wild. The Amur leopards at the Audubon Zoo are part of the Species Survival Plan. Since 1998, 12 Amur leopards have been born as the Audubon Zoo.
We hope you and will take a day, or a weekend, to see all the Audubon Nature Institute has to offer. The organization does so much to ensure help conserve local and global wildlife, so we feel it is only fair to thank them for their efforts!
